(NA) BEIRA (DO) RIO, (NA) BEIRA (DA) VIDA: GERAÇÕES DE PROTAGONISMO NA (RE) INVENÇÃO DO PAPEL FEMININO EM PARNAÍBA

Abstract

This study investigates the representation of women's experiences and the social dynamics of marginalized populations living near the Parnaíba River during a period of intense urban and cultural transformation. Through an analysis of the novel Beira Rio Beira Vida by Assis Brasil, it explores how female experiences in contexts of exclusion intersect with changes in the urban landscape and local social dynamics. The narrative enables an examination of how these characters challenge imposed expectations, redefine their roles, and claim spaces of resistance and reinvention within prevailing structures. In this process, the displacement of sex workers and the presence of precarious housing were perceived by authorities as obstacles to the modern image envisioned for the city, being addressed as issues to be regulated and removed from the more visible circuits of urban life. In this context, policies of control and surveillance over women's mobility and activities related to sex work were intensified. The analysis of the narrative also reveals a rigidly stratified society, in which the agency of women— especially sex workers—emerges as a form of resistance and survival in the face of economic exclusion and social stigma. The story unfolds through the memories of Luíza, the central character, who interweaves her personal experiences with the city’s social and cultural landscape, giving the narrative an intimate and reflective dimension on the role of women in marginalized spaces.